Feed crusher



July 15, 1941. D. D. FEHR I 2,249,648-

FEED CRUSHER Filed March 1, 1940 Mlle/:fof

v /ren' 45 Q mmf Patented July 15, 13941 UNITED .sparsamer ortica FEED OIRUSHER David D. Fehr, Haskett, Manitoba, Canada Application March 1, 1940, Serial No. 321,781

2 Claims.

'My invention relates to improvements in feed crushers and the principal object of my invention is to provide a device of the character Aherewithin described in which means are provided for automatically regulating the volume of feed delivered -to the crusher disc-s laccording to the rate of speed at which the same are rotating.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the 'character herewithin described wherein the feed conveyor beca-mes automatically if' disconnected from the driving shaft when an obstruction comes in contact therewith.

A further object of my invention is to provide tiff a device of the character herewith-in described x,

in which a novel mechanism is incorporated for bringing the -crusher discs into action.

f A further object of my invention is'to provide a device of the character herewithin described whereby a more positive delivery of the fee-d to the crusher discs is facilitated by an improved positioning of the conveyor screw.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described wherein the mounting of the driving pulley does not in any way interfere with the placing of the driving belt thereon.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is of a simple and economical construction I scribed, refer-enc'e being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

vFigure 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional Lelevation of my invention. f

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof, showing .the

same as .being partially `broken away to reveal the hinged connections of my feed regulating means therein incorporated.

Figure 3 is an end view of my feed regulatingV means. l Y n Figure 4 is a perspective illustration of my hopper conduit retaining means and the control lever associated therewith.

In the drawing like characters -o-f reference in-V dicate corresponding parts in the different gures.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing,V

my invention will be seen Sto comprise a feed crusher I consisting of a cylindrical housing 2 open at one end 3 thereof and suitably attached to a mounting base 4. The closed end 5 of .the housing is provided on its inner side with an annular bearing retaining ring 6 and a bearing supporting sleeve I having a concentric aperture 8 formed centrally therethrough, projects outwardly from the outer surface 9 thereof.

`Positioned within `the ring I I provide an antifriction bearing It concentrically aligned with a similar bearing II mounted on the free eX- tremity of the'sleeve l, in which bearings a oating drive shaft I2 is journalled, the tapered end t3 thereof projecting somewhat beyond the eX- 't'remi-ty of the sleeve, and its opposite end Il extending partially into a delivery conduit I5 hereinafter to be described.

An open-ended drive pulley it is provided with an annular groove Il' on the inner surface thereof to receive the outer ball race of the bearing li and a retaining insert i3 equipped with a tapered bore I9 and a circumferential flange 23 is secured upon the shaft end I3 to engage the interior of the pulley Iii and bear against the bearing II.

A suitable axle nut 2l may of course be provided to retain the insert I8 in position and it will be clearly apparent that by the aforesaid means suicient rigidity between the pulley I5 and the shaft I2 will be obtained.

Within the interior of the housing 2 and secured Ito the shaft I2 by'means of a key 22 I provide a face plate 23 attached -to which in turn by means of the screws 2d is a rotating Crusher disc 25 of a conventional design, the plate 23 also being provided on the perimeter 2S thereof with a plurality of radially extending fins 2l.

The aforesaid end It of the shaft I2 carries a worm conveyor 23 freely mounted thereon, a compression spring 29 and a loose bushing 33 being interposed on this shaft between the plate 23 and the conveyor 23 to urge the latter against a suitable locked nut 3| secured to the end I 4 of the shaft I2. f

My feed hopper 32 is removably attached to the vertical arm 33 of the aforesaid L-sh-aped delivery conduit I5, the opposite or horizontal arm 34 of which in turn, is slidably insertable Iinto the open end 3 of the housing 2.

A ystationary crusher disc 35 is secured by means of the bolts 36 to the end wall 31 of the conduit arm 34, `and it will be noted in this connection that this wall and also both of the plates 25 and 35 are provided with central apertures 38, v3.9 and 43 respectively, toaccommodate the shaft I2 and the associated spring 29, and

that a suitable discharge conduit 4l communi- Cates with the housing Zat essentially the location of the crusher plates therein.

The means for sliding the conduit I5 within the housing end 3 comprises a pair of guide rods 42 and 43 attached to the latter and extending on either side of the conduit through a pair of eye brackets 44 attached to the latter, and a pair of compression springs 45 are interposed between these ybrackets and the housing 2 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The free extremities 46 of the rods 42 and 43 are threaded to accommodate ,a pair of knurled adjusting nuts 47 and a removable cross-bar 48 pressed by means of the springs 43 is slidably mounted upon the rods clear of the location of the conduit I5.

One end of this bar is provided with a suitable handle 55 .and a vertical recess 5I to engage the rod 42 while the remaining rod 43 engages a horizontal recess 52 formed in the opposite end 53 thereof.

A control rodl 54 equipped with a pair of cams 55 on the boss 55 thereof, is rotatably mounted on the rod 43 adjacent the end 53 of the bar 48, the cams thereof being designed normally to engage the recess 52 but to bear against the end 53 of the bar 48 when the lever 54 is rotated. Finally, it will be noted in this connection ,that the center portion of the bar 48 is outwardly concaved as at 5l, this concavity being provided with a suitable threaded bore to accommodate a hand adjustable contacting screw 58, the free end 53s of which in turn frictionally engages the side wall Si) of the vertical conduit portion 33. A threaded boss 6I of a locking lever 62 is provided to bear against the cross-bar 43 and prevent undesired rotation of the screw 53.

Describing now the construction of my feed regulating means 53, the same will be seen to consist of an open-ended sleeve 54 secured within the conduit portion 34 concentrically with the shaft I2 and having an oblique inwardly extending flange 55 formed at one end thereof. Adjacent the interior side of this flange I provide a pair of semicircular trap doors 65 pivotally connected by means of the pin hinges 51 to the diametrically opposite sides of the sleeve E4, and it will also be noted that a circular aperture 68 is formed at the center of the doors 66 to ,accommodate the aforesaid conveyor 28 therein. A pair of extension brackets 69 are also secured to these doors, the free extremities of such brackets pivotally engaging a pair of control rods 10, which in turn protrude on the exterior of the conveyor portion 34 and each carry a coil spring 'Il and a wing-nut l2, whereby the doors 56 are normally maintained in a closed position.

Having thus described my invention, I shall now present its method of operation.

When my feed Crusher l is in operation, the feed will gravitate from the hopper 32 into the delivery conduit I5, where it will contact the conveyor screw 23 and be urged by the rotation thereof past the doors 66 and through the apertures 33 and 4l), between the crusher discs 25 and 35.

When these discs and the associated Aconveyor are rotated at a given rate of speed, the latter will impart a certain pressure to the feed, which in turn will result in the opening of the doors 55 to a definite extent. When,however, this rate of speed is increased or decreased, the conveyor pressure will vary accordingly and the doors will in turn open to a greater or lesser extent, whereby the volume of Vfeed admitted to the discs by the conveyor will be in an essentially direct proportion to the speed at which such discs may be rotating.

The movement of the doors 66 is of course controlled by the resiliency of the springs 1I and by manipulating the nuts I2 a tensioning adjustment of this movement under various operating conditions Will be facilitated.

I also wish to point out that since the conveyor is driven only frictionally from the shaft, that is by its frictional contact with the nutV 3| and the disc 25 as effected by the spring 29, the rotation of such conveyor will automatically be discontinued when an obstruction is encountered, such ter will be forced in the direction of the arrow 'I3 accompanied by a corresponding movement of the screw 58, which in turn will slide the conduit I5 further into the housing end 3 and resultin shifting of the disc 35 towards the disc 25. Thereupon the drive shaft I2 may be rotated and the crushed feed Yof course will be expelled from the housing 2 through the conduit 4I by the centrifugal actionof'the fins 2l. An additional and a finer adjustment for spacing the discs 25 and 35 to compensate for various conditions of operation'and wear is provided by'the nuts 41, which may be turnedY to govern the compressionv force exerted by thev s'pring`49 against the bar 48, and also by rotation 'of the contacting screw 58 to alter the spacing ofthe conduit I5 With respect to this bar.

When the Crusher has been stopped, the plates 25 and 35 will of course be drawn apart by the springs 45 acting against the brackets 44 to slide the conduit 45 outwardly from the housing end 3.

Finally in connection with my floating drive shaft arrangement wherein both the drive pulley I5 and the bearings II) and II are positioned on one end of the shaft I2 with respect to its midpoint. I wish to point out that by this means a simple installation of the driving belt on the pulley is facilitated since no obstruction such as a bearing bracket or the like at the pulley end of the shaft renders the sameinaccessible.

Since various modifications can Abe made in my invention as hereinabove described and' as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and many apparently widely different Vembodimentsof same made within the scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, itis intended that; all matter contained inthe accompanying specification and drawing shall'beinterpreted as illustrative only and not in` a limiting sense and I desire only such limitations placed thereon, as are specifically expressed in the-accompanying claims. I. u n 'Y What I claim as my invention is "Y 1. In a feed Crusher utilizing ,a screw conveyor to feed material from a hopper to Ya pair'of grinding discs at the end of said conveyor, apair of hingedly mounted, spring closed trap Vdoors between said hopper and said discsfsaid trap doors.

being positioned vertically upon either side of said conveyor, the free edges of said trap doors Y be- `ing semicircular toembrace said conveyor but 2. A feed crusher comprising in combination, a housing enclosing a crushing chamber, a vertical L-shaped duct extending freely and horizontally into said chamber, a vertically positioned, stationary, crushing plate, secured to the end of said duct and Within said chamber, a horizontally positioned screw conveyor mounted upon a drive shaft, extending into said duct, a rotatable crushing disc keyed to said shaft and Within said chamber, means for permitting limited horizontal linear movement of said duct during the operation of said Crusher and a pair of spring closed trap doors hingedly secured to said duct, said trap doors being positioned vertically upon either side of said conveyor, the free edges thereof :being semicircular to embrace said conveyor but being slightly spaced from the flight of said conveyor, said doors being yieldable during the feeding of material by said conveyor through said duct to said crushing chamber.

DAVID D. FEI-IR. 

